Buffalo Grove receives 2015 Innovation Award
The village of Buffalo Grove recently received the 2015 Innovation Award from the Lake County Municipal League, for its role in developing an Information Technology Consortium that includes five area communities. The consortium, called GovITC was established in January 2014 and is credited with providing substantial cost savings and increased efficiency.
The award was accepted by Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman at the Lake County Municipal League annual dinner on Thursday, Dec. 3.
GovITC founding members include Buffalo Grove, Kenilworth, Glenview, Lincolnshire and Lake Bluff. Each community now outsources their IT function to the same service provider, which increases the ability of each to utilize programming and security specialists that would otherwise be cost prohibitive if purchased individually.
"We are proud as a village to have worked with these communities on a program that has resulted in efficiencies and cost savings for our residents and those of our Consortium partners," Sussman said.
The village of Buffalo Grove alone has saved $240,000 annually on staffing costs. Additional benefits include increased IT speed and reliability, improved decision making and faster resolution for IT related issues. All five communities have worked together for nearly two years to achieve measurable results.
Long term goals of the consortium are to develop a five-year technology plan, and to share a data center and server space for joint software programs. The five community members currently serve as back up and disaster recovery sites for one another and host email archiving, which also drives down cost.
"Our goal when we began investigating this possibility was to determine if there was a strategic way to pool resources while providing the highest level of IT services," said Village Manager Dane Bragg. "Through the establishment of GovITC, the founding communities have been able to create a new standardization of platforms, technology and performance metrics for Buffalo Grove and the member communities. I would like to thank our community partners Kenilworth, Glenview, Lincolnshire, and Lake Bluff for their hard work on this important project."
The Lake County Municipal League recognizes municipalities who have developed strategic programs that solve municipal challenges and increase the effectiveness of local government. The awards program also creates an opportunity for the exchange of information and experiences to build capacity for municipalities throughout Lake County.